Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Another first for me today...... one of my cards made an Etsy Treasury List. Ellie from E.B. Beads created a collage of Owl products from different Etsy sellers. One of my owl cards made the list here.

Morning everyone, yes I am a tad excited as this is my very first blog Design Team Card.

I have created this card for the Lots Of Paper Challenge over at Stamping Vacation. This months challenge is to use 'Paper with Hearts that are not Red'. I think finding the paper was the hardest part of the challenge for me. I succeeded though in finding this lovely green heart patterned paper that I have had in my collection now for about five years. This is what I like about Denise's challenge they have me using items that I have forgotten about or waiting for that special occasion.

I started with a pre-scored white card. Then added the green heart paper. Using my Spellbinders I cut out a purple Bazzill Bling scalloped edge circle. I also cut out my SU image using the Spellbinder circle. I have coloured my the SU up image (Nice and Easy Notes set) with my watercolour pencils and aqua brush. Finished with a lovely little heart charm which says 'Made with Love'. I received this from Alicia over at Time to Create.

Now it is your turn. I would love to see your creations and see if you can actually find a piece of heart patterned paper in your stash that does not have red hearts. All entries into this challenge are entered into the draw on the 30th September for the monthly gift certificate prize.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Morning everyone, it's a wet and drizzly Monday here. The gardens are loving it and I think I will have to order mulch so I can keep all the moisture in the ground.

Today, I have created a card using one of the beautiful Digital Images I won from Ruth over at Passion for Stamps. I have printed it off onto watercolour paper and given it a quick spray of hairspray then coloured with my wonderful new Aquamarkers from Letraset. It has bled a little in places so if anyone has any tips as to what I should do to stop this please let me know. I am still enjoying the lovely colours. So the layout for the card is the Sketchy Therapy Challenge from over at Stamping Vacation. You have until 2nd September to enter this challenge. I have used a Blue Edge Crafts white card, a layer of purple paper and then this wonderful patterned paper from a magazine giveaway. Layers and strips of pink bazzill bling. Finished with a 'Thinking of You' greeting printed on the computer. This card will be jetsetting over to my friend in New Zealand...just to say Hi!.

I still have my giveaway planned. Just waiting on some stickers as I would like to post a photo of them when I offer the giveaway....so keep checking in for my post. :-)

Friday, August 27, 2010

I have created this card for the Inspiration Challenge over at Craftmad.....theme is 'Butterflies'. The reason for the theme was so that I would make use of my butterfly Creatables die that I bought a little while ago. It is so pretty and I am amazed at how easily the little pieces come out from the wings. I wish the layout came so easily. I could not find the right place to put this butterfly or right paper. This may look like a simple layout but it took me a couple of hours to figure it out. lol.

I have used black leather craft card for the base card. A layer of textured paper from DCWV. I then went around the edges and pricked all the holes ready for the faux stitching. Mounted my lovely butterflies...one in a metallic purple paper and the other cream paper. Finished with bling!

Have a fun Friday everyone and a great weekend. I will see you Monday.

My giveaway should be closer then.....as well as some Aquamarkers there will be stickers involved. ;-)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Morning everyone, I have a Teabag Holder to share today. While checking out everyone's blog I spied a beautiful Teabag Holder over at Pretty Pressings made by Claudia....you should check it out. Claudia was nice enough to share the link at Splitcoast Stampers for the Tutorial. This was just the perfect little gift to go with the Thank You card I made yesterday.

So I have used SU Taken With Teal and a Birch Haberdashery Paper OSP003 to create the holder. For the from topper I have used the butterfly from my SU Priceless stamp set and the flower from the SU Organic Grace stamp set. Finished with Kindy Glitz and a lovely satin ribbon.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I have done it.....had a play with my new Aquamarkers. They are great fun and I love the colours and how vibrant they are. After starting this I thought that a rose is not the best image for me to try something new. I always have a problem figuring out the shading on roses. This image was given to me a while ago...it is gold embossed onto Blender Paper. I found the Aquamarkers worked very well on this paper. I do have a lot of practising to do as I am so used to using my pencils. I did like the fact that I could let the image dry and then come back later in the day and think that needs a little more colour or blending there and out came the blending pen and everything was wet and moving around again.

Here are the wonderful Aquamarkers that I received from Letraset....the three colours on the box are what I have used to colour the above rose.

This bag is the reason for the above Thank you card. I volunteer at the local museum and the lady that I share the time with is 79 and a wonderful seamstress, cook, artist, person. One day she arrived and had a cute little handbag with her. It was a denim material with gold flourishes on it. The strap was made from braided gold coloured thin cord. I was asking her all about it and she had told me she had made it herself. I told her how lovely it was.

This lady had been working on a denim skirt for herself at that stage. Three days after our shift together I get a phone call asking if she could drop off a bag for me. Yes, she had gone home a put all her scraps together and made this bag for me. :-) How lucky am I.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Hi there everyone, can't believe it Tuesday. To be honest I am really not sure what happened to my plans yesterday. I had the above card already to share and then suddenly it was late in the afternoon so thought I might as well wait until today. Phone calls, housework, catching up with friends and being with the family is what happened.

Anyways, I can honestly say that I am feeling well again.....Merry smiles. On the weekend I got outside and attacked the weeds in the garden and saw how dry everything is. So have plans of ordering 4 cubic metres of mulch....the thought just tires me. I also tidied up my desk from all the cardmaking leading up the markets the weekend before. I have actually created three cards but can only show you this one as the other two are for my Design Team challenges over at Stamping Vacation. Remember to go check them out and post a photo of your card for a challenge to be in the running for a $25 voucher to 7 Kids.

Now my card I have made this for friends sons birthday this week.....yes, same family as the 11yo girl last week. I started with a Blue Edge Crafts white card then used a strip of Far and Away - Take Flight paper. If you look close the green marks are planes. To the bottom half of the card I used SU Kiwi Kiss which I embossed with the Branches folder. SU Riding Hood Red is used to back the image and greeting. The image 'Pip Chillin' from 'Passion for Stamps I coloured with my watercolour pencils and aqua brush. Then used the SU Not Quite Navy inkspot to smudge around the edges. The greeting sticker is from the Sticker Store. The sketch for this card is the August Craftmad Card Sketch.

Almost forgot my exciting news. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to receive a pack of 12 Aquamarkers from Letraset. They have sent them to me to have a try and see what I think. Yes, I have had a quick little play but hope to have more time this morning to try them out and I will show you what I have been up to.

But there is more....... I will be having a giveaway real soon and some Aquamarkers will be involved. :-)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Hi everyone, this card I have made for my friend's daughter's 11th birthday. The bracelets below are her present and I used the colours as inspiration for the card. I have used a white pre-scored card (Blue Edge Crafts) for the base card then a layer of Lilac Bazzil Bling (Blue Edge Crafts). I punched some retro flowers out using SU Perfect Plum and then layered a smaller green flower and topped with the flower bling. The image is a gift from the lovely Alicia from 'Time to Create'. I have coloured this beautiful image with my watercolour pencils and aqua brush.

I am also going to enter this into the Inspiration Station Challenge over at Stamping Vacation. Remember to enter a challenge over at Stamping Vacation before the end of August to be in the running for a $25.00 gift certificate at 7 Kids (they sell craft supplies)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

This is what kept me busy yesterday amongst all my housework. I really enjoyed the colouring in part of these cards as it is so relaxing. The cutting out of the flowers and butterflies are not my favourite part of cardmaking. :-)

The Daffodil card I started with SU Bashful Blue card which folded into a gate fold shape. I added SU design paper from the "Goodmorning Sunshine" collection. The left hand strip I pleated and added to the card. I then pin pricked all around the right hand edges of the flap and a line down the left hand flap. Grabbed my gold pen and joined the dots to give a faux stitching appearance. Next I added this beautiful Daffodil sticker (Sticker Store) to the a piece of white card. I coloured the bright yellow with my sakura pen (Blue Edge Crafts) and the remainder with my SU inkspots and aqua brush.

The second card I started with a white pre-scored card (Blue Edge Crafts) and then a layer of SU Design Paper.....sorry don't know the name. The flower is from the SU Playful Petals set which I stamped and coloured with my SU Inkspots and aqua brush then cut and layered. The top part of the flower is my happy mistake that I was lucky enough to be able to create again. I coloured the flower then went around the edges with a brown marker then covered the petals with Kindy Glitz. The Kindy Glitz makes the brown marker bleed. I layered the flower up with 3D Foam tape and finished with a green bling in the centre. On the right side I have used SU card and design paper and topped with a leaf from the SU Playful Petals set which I coloured with Certainly Celery. Topped these leaves with cute little clear glitter butterfly stickers (Sticker Store) which I had attached to yellow paper before cutting out.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Morning everyone, well it is an exciting day for me as the Design Team for Stamping Vacations Challenge Blog has been introduced. Yes, you can meet the nine ladies that are on the team if you go here and here. You may even get to put a couple of faces to names ;-)

While you are there be sure to check out the wonderful challenges that Denise has organised for every day of the month. I am sure that you will find a challenge that suits your card making style. Remember if you enter in any of the challenges for August you are in the running for a $25.00 gift certificate to

Lastly, if you become a follower I would love it if you would mention my name. There is a little comp for the Design Team happening. :-) Thanks heaps.

Happy Monday everyone.

P.S. Our market stall on Saturday was a huge success. I sold a few of my cards and other creations. I was happy to leave after the first card sold. :-) The weather was perfect, blue skies and little cool.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Be sure to visit Ruth over at A Passion for Stamps. Ruth design her very own beautiful digital stamps....a majority of wonderful flowers. Ruth wants to celebrate her birthday with everyone by offering a set of five free digital images. So be sure to pop on over and enter before her birthday on the 24th August.

Here is a card that Ruth has created with one of her fantastic images.

Visit Ruth's other blog 'A Passion for Cards' to see all her card creations with her own digital stamps. Be sure to scroll all the way down to the honeysuckle.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Happy Birthday to Stacie......well on the 22nd August which happens to be the close date for this terrific Blue Candy. Can you tell that is her favourite colour? If Stacie's followers reaches 100 (currently 93) and she receives 29 comments on her candy she will add a little something extra to the collection.

No cards from me today and I probably won't be on for a couple of days.

Where I am at....had my first nights sleep in bed for about two weeks without coughing during the night and moving to the lounge. Yes, I had/have bronchitis but medicines are obviously kicking in.

I have done 32 of my 40 card order....and the remainder are cut, stamped and need to be coloured and put together.

Tomorrow my friend and I are having a stall at the Annual Pyramid Race here at Gordonvale. This is where silly people run a lap around the central town block and then run about 5km before starting their ascent up the mountain shaped as a Pyramid which is 922m high then back to town again. Another of our friends is one of these silly people doing this....same age as me and has done it for years. So we go and cheer her on.

Sunday.....I am sleeping in and doing not much at all except eat birthday cake at a friends daughters 11th party.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I got to and finished these cards off yesterday. This one of those cards that looks better in real life. I just could not get the glitter/shimmer on the heart to show. I have embossed it with a peacock embossing powder so it changes colours like a rainbow when held different ways.

I started with a white pre-scored base card (Blue Edge Crafts). Then a layer of SU Blush Blossom and SU Pretty in Pink which I have run through the Victoria embossing folder. I then adhered some silver jak paper to white card and cut to size. Finished this with this lovely border punch from Stampin Up. The heart image is from the SU Always set which I have stamped with 'Pretty in Pink' ink. Finished the card with lovely white cross grain ribbon and a touch of bling.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I found this cute little (free) image over at Beccy's Place and just had to make a card with it. I have made a Joy Fold card using black leather craft card as the base card. Then a layer of Kaiser Craft - Cabbage Patch and on the right some lovely metallic purple card (Blue Edge Crafts) which I have embossed with the Branches folder. I coloured the image with my water colour pencils and aqua pen. Added a touch of gold to his buttons and glasses.

Thanks for all your well wishes. I am feeling even more human today. So by Thursday I think I should be bouncing around the place. lol

Monday, August 9, 2010

Another week is here. The weekend ended up being a write off for me. I did get these four cards made but the dreaded cold that I was fighting and thought I had beaten got the better of me. So took myself to the doctors yesterday (Sunday) and now am dosed up on antibiotics. A little better this morning. At least I am not coughing as often.

However, my daughter (14yo) had a ball yesterday in the kitchen. I think cause she knew that I could not be bothered to come and check what she was doing and how she was doing it. lol :-) She started with some condensed milk biscuits which looked very yummy....I have still to try one. Next she wanted to have a go at a pie. So here is her first ever attempt of pastry. It is a pear pie and very yummy she did a brilliant job on the pastry. The only down side was that we only had salted butter which she used and still added the teaspoon of salt. It wasn't too salty but you could taste it. Gives her a reason to make another one real soon.

Pear Pie all prettied up with icing sugar and shortly after devoured by the family.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Hi all, Friday....end of the week. Yay! Well this is what kept me busy yesterday. A lovely lady has ordered 40 cards off me. :-) Yes, I have a long way to go, so don't think I will be having too many new cards for a couple of days. Thankfully, I had cut out all the pieces earlier in the week and assembled these yesterday. Still takes a long time getting all the pieces together and doing the final touches to them like colouring in, roughing edges, folding and threading thread through button holes, then adding all the double sided tape and glue.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to vote for my card over at Crafts-U-Print. He tends to hang out about half way down. I have been meaning to let you know that voting is open until 10th August and you can vote everyday. So if you have nothing to do........ :-)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I have been playing with the Build-a-Sketch challenge from over at Stamping Vacation. This challenge is due 4th September so plenty time to join in and have a chance of winning the $25.00 voucher to 7 Kids College Fund. Denise has given us a list of shapes to cut and each month selects four of these shapes to create your sketch. So this month we have to use Numbers 1, 6, 10 and 12.

Now this is the card that I came up with. Yes, I have used another Stella image from Bugaboo. I have coloured her with my watercolour pencils and aqua pen. Added some glitter and some Dimensional magic to her glasses. I have then layered the card up using a pre-scored gloss card from Blue Edge Crafts, bright blue card which I have run through the 'Diamonds in the Rough' embossing folder. Then added some yellow and light blue. The hat and greeting on the light blue card are a rub-on. Finished with black border stickers from the Sticker Store. I am also going to enter this card into Stamping Vacations 'Colour Combo' Challenge which closes 6th August and asks for Bright Blue, Yellow and Light Blue.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Hi everyone, today I have a card that I made for my hubby to give to one of his workmates who turned 50. I love these Stella images from Bugaboo and thought that Sue would get a laugh from this card. So I printed Stella out and sprayed her with hairspray so she would bleed when I coloured with my watercolour pencils and aqua pen. I then finished her off with glitter on her dress, bling on her ring and Dimensional Magic on her glasses. I layered her up on some matching purple paper which was then added to the metallic red card which I had run through the Happy Birthday embossing folder. I printed the 50 and greeting on the computer.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Remember this card? Well I had an email from Crafts-U-Print telling me about a comp they were having and I thought 'why not, got to be in it to win it". So I have entered him into the cardmaking contest over there. If you have the chance I would love a vote from you. There is a page of wonderful entries. I can't tell you his exact position as I noticed that when I refreshed the page the images were shuffled. He seemed to be in the middle section. Thanks for your time. You can vote here.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Morning everyone, the start of a new week and a new month. Hope it's a good one for everyone.

Today I am sharing a Christmas Hanger I made for the Craftmad July Sewing Swap. Yes, we had to swap some form of sewn Christmas Hanger. I really enjoy the chance to embroider and this was no exception. This was a kit that I bought a little while ago and I really love the border material it came with.

Now I am off to think about a sewing project for everyone to swap this month.